Three Inexpensive Avenues for Smart Recruiting

When budgets are tight, knowing the most efficient method of recruitment spending is top priority. Gaining a measurable return on investment - top quality new hires - is practically required. So, what if you could deepen your talent pool, without a line item request?

In a recent survey, many job seekers told us that they had first heard of our services through three affordable channels - ones that could easily apply to your recruiting methods.

In addition to maintaining a presence on a reputable recruiting resource website, such as JobsInTheUS.com, invest some time into the following areas and your good habits will pay off.

1. Web Search Engines

Taking up one-third of the vote, web search engines, such as Google, rank number one as the most popular method of how new job seekers found us. Even if you don't have a pay-per-click advertising budget, you can still work on rising through the ranks of free organic search results - which, incidentally, get more clicks than the sponsored search results.

How do you this? Besides being an ethical web citizen and staying the course online for at least a year, keywords are an important tool that you can use to your benefit to drive web traffic. According to Google, the average number of words in a search query is four. In fact, two-, three- and four-word phrases show a higher search engine ranking than one-word phrases. Be sure that your career page, job postings and company profile are filled with these keyword phrases that match your business.

2. Social Media: Word of Mouth and Referrals

Approximately 16 percent of our job seekers had heard about our site and its services through word-of-mouth or a referral. In other words, someone told them that we were a good place to check out. Although it's difficult to track and measure this type of marketing - don't underestimate its powers.

People who have had a good experience with your business will remember it, and tell others. Unfortunately, they remember the bad times even more. Anytime that you can create a positive result, you are investing in your company's brand. Twitter and Facebook are good examples of how companies can now reach out and interact with customers, and the general public - all of whom are potential employees. You can use these methods to drive traffic to your jobs.

3. +siRegion+ Career Centers

In a time when unemployment is hitting the ceiling, many job seekers with decades of work experience are visiting - or at least browsing the web site of - their local career center office. About 13 percent of our job seekers discovered our services through their local career center office. Many career centers offer networking events for local unemployed professionals, often with guest speakers. Why not sign up to offer some advice on how a job seeker can get noticed by an employer, such as you? Goodwill doesn't cost much, yet it can yield great returns.

Crafting Your Employment Brand

Your employment brand follows you wherever you go, whether you've created it or not. Take charge of your image and project the right one, so that you can attract the best employees for your workplace. Start with our monthly feature - the JobsInTheUS.com Company Spotlight, where your company plays a starring role.

Margaret Hansen has been writing professionally since receiving a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Maine. She has worked for multiple organizations as a weekly newspaper reporter, a weekly newspaper editor, and in a variety of internal/external marketing communications roles. Her freelance career has focused on writing and editing for print, email and web publications in the employment industry, as well as manuscript editing and resume writing.